NYT: New Study Shows Risks of Amazon Deforestation. And Rewards of Protection.
If deforestation and global warming continue unchecked, the Amazon rainforest could begin a gradual transition to a degraded, grassland-like ecosystem in just a few decades, according to new research published in the journal Nature on May 6. The study provides new insight into when the forest might start to slip over a so-called tipping point…
Mongabay: Facebook is the Market Place for Illegal Wildlife Trade
The platform hosted more than three-fourths of the 22,000 wild animals and their parts known to be sold online between April 2024 and March 2026, valued at $65 million, according to a recent report. Researchers found that about 84% of animals for sale on Facebook are banned from commercial cross-border trade under an international treaty…
The Live Oak Refillery: Promoting a low-waste, sustainable Lifestyle
We believe in caring for both people and the planet. Together, we’re reducing waste through the simple act of refilling - not just our containers, but also our hearts and minds with new ways of living more gently on the Earth. You can refill your own containers with everyday home, body, and cleaning products…
Kneedeep Times: In Uncertain Times, the Port of Oakland Goes Electric
The Black communities neighboring the port (of Oakland) have fought for decades for their right to cleaner air. Now that dream is within reach….
Coastside News: Pigeon Point State Park triples in size with land donation
Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park is now three times larger after Peninsula Open Space Trust donated 132 acres to the park, an estimated $5 million gift. “This greatly helps to preserve the natural beauty and outstanding views of the San Mateo Coast,” said Chris Spohrer….
Canary Media: US Steel to Build $2B Lower-carbon Iron Plant in Arkansas
U.S. Steel says it will invest $1.9 billion to build a modern and lower-carbon ironmaking plant in Arkansas — marking a key expansion beyond the company’s coal-based steel mills. The new “direct reduced iron” plant will sit alongside the sprawling Big River Steel Works, in the town of Osceola..
California State Parks: Bold Vision for Biggest Expansion of State Parks in Decades
Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced State Parks Forward, setting California on a path to rapidly expand the nation’s largest and most diverse State Park System through a streamlined acquisition and planning process. Building on unprecedented progress of key administration priorities like Outdoors for All and 30x30…
Optimist Daily: Clean energy surge leads to historic coal decline in China and India
For the first time in over five decades, coal-fired electricity generation has dropped in both China and India, the world’s two largest consumers of coal. This historic shift, outlined in new research from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and published by Carbon Brief, may signal the beginning of a long-anticipated global turning point in carbon emissions.
Emergence Magazine: The Scaffolding of Life, Suzanne Simard
This week, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard joins us to speak about her decades-long Mother Tree Project, which seeks to reimagine how we can protect the integrity of harvested forests and our climate futures. The challenge of our moment is not the discovery of new knowledge….
Inside Climate News: Rights of Nature Defender Wins Goldman Prize for Protecting Colombia’s Magdalena River From Fracking
As a child growing up along the banks of Colombia’s Magdalena River, Yuvelis Morales Blanco learned to read the water. “Dark spots (oil spills) on the river meant that we were not going to eat,” she recalled. Now Morales Blanco, 24 y/o, has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize — often called the “Green Nobel” ..
Quanta Magazine: What Physical ‘Life Force’ Turns Biology’s Wheels?
Evolution created the flagellar motor, a combination propeller/brain that enables single-celled bacteria to move toward food sources. It’s an electric motor that rotates at several hundred revolutions per second — faster than the flywheel in a race car engine — to twirl a tail-like flagellum that pushes the cell along…
Digital Democracy: Legislation to Designate Santa Cruz Mountains as a "Resource of Statewide Significance"
SB 949 is a bill co-authored by Senator Josh Becker and Senator John Laird that "would designate the Santa Cruz Mountains... as a resource of statewide significance that requires special protection.
NYT: ‘More than a failure of due diligence’
In 2016, a surprise decision from the Supreme Court “sent both climate policy and the court itself spinning in new directions,” Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak wrote in (a NYT) investigation published last week. The one-paragraph ruling halted the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama’s signature environmental policy, which was aimed at reducing emissions from power plants.
Inside Climate News: California Bill Aims to Keep Toxic PFAS off Its Crops
California, the nation’s top agricultural producer, could ban pesticides with PFAS after researchers found the “forever chemicals” on 40 percent of the conventional produce grown in the state. Schultz, D-Burbank, introduced A.B. 1603 earlier this year to ban the use, sale and manufacture of PFAS pesticides in California starting in 2035.
Climate Action Now: Beavers Excel At Creating carbon-sequestering wetlands
In 2023, California began relocating beavers (Castor canadensis) from the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds to return them to the lands of the Tule River and Mountain Maidu indigenous tribes. Now, researchers have found that the beavers’ return to the Tásmam Koyóm meadow north of the Sierra Nevada (especially their subsequent dam-building!) has reinvigorated the wetland ecosystem….
Heatmap News: Federal Judge Breaks Trump’s Permitting Blockade
April 21 - A federal court seems to have struck down a swath of Trump administration moves to paralyze solar and wind permits. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper on Tuesday enjoined a raft of actions by the Trump administration that delayed federal renewable energy permits, granting a request submitted by regional trade groups.
Sentinel: Proposed Expansion of Santa Cruz Marine Protected Areas
April 24 - The California Fish and Game Commission will review a proposal for expanded marine protected areas in Santa Cruz County Tuesday morning April 28…..The proposal includes an expansion of the small Natural Bridges state marine reserve and the creation of a new state marine conservation area at Pleasure Point.
Lookout: Group of local contractors to use straw bales to build low-income housing
Local contractors are working together to bring low-income housing for community members experiencing homelessness. The project will use renewable materials such as straw bales to lessen climate change impacts.
Environment Colorado: Plastic Pellet-Free Waters Act Signed into Law
Great news -- our sister organization Environment Colorado just won a campaign to protect Colorado's wildlife and waterways from plastic pellet pollution! Plastic pellets are small, lentil-sized pieces of plastic that are used in manufacturing….
Heatmap: New Documents Undermine Trump Administration’s Claims About Offshore Wind Deal
When the Trump administration announced it was paying TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to cancel the company’s offshore wind leases, it painted the deal as a mutually beneficial trade: The government would reimburse the company for every penny it spent to acquire the leases, and in return, Total would “redirect” the money to U.S. oil and gas development. Now, the terms of the deal have been made public, and Americans’ side of the bargain appears to be worthless.